The Blood Traitor: War Begins
by vastrajennystrax
Summary: BOOK THREE: It has been five years since Andromeda last saw her sisters, but the Order of the Phoenix fears that they will return with the Death Eaters; who are trying to take over the Ministry. Can she guarentee that Ted will be safe? Or will she be too busy looking after their daughter to fight in the war she has been fighting ever since Nelly died?
1. Pink Anicdotes

The church had been covered in lilies in dedication of the bride; it had been Sirius' idea. The extravagent dress robes were a clear sign of the prescence of witches and wizards but the fabics that draped the pews and pillars were distrinctly Muggle-made.

"Who are the bride and groom, mummy?" Nymphadora asked. It had been a girl that she had given birth to and Ted had agreed there was only one possible name they could give her, _I told you there'd be a way for you to return to us, Nelly. _

"Some friends of cousin Sirius" she told her daughter,

"Where's daddy?"

"He has to work today"

"But I miss him". Andromeda had a very close relationship with her daughter; she wasn't going to let her be ostracised by her family like she had been; but there was something more between Nymphadora and Ted, as if she somehow _knew _that they were each other's protector.

"Good afternoon, Professor" said a boy no older than twenty who had appeared beside her chair.

"Remus; you're no longer a student and I'm no longer a professor, call me Andromeda" she smiled to ease the temperament from her voice; "has Dumbledore found a replacement yet?"

"Sorry, Andromeda; you would've thought I'd learnt after two years but even Sirius sometimes calls you Professor. And yes; her name's Charity Burbage, she has good references but I doubt she'll be better than you".

"You overestimate me-"

"I turned my hair pink for the first time this morning!" Nymphadora beamed at the boy; she had been born with the ability to change her appearance at will and she relished at the confused looks she got off people.

"That's great!" Remus said, a little too enthusiastically.

"I told her she should turn it brown or blonde for the wedding" Andromeda interjected; "pink is hardly the ideal colour for a social occasion like this".

"Don't worry about it, James and Lily won't mind". He looked at Nymphadora the whole time whilst he was walking away; before Andromeda could warn her daughter not to talk to strangers (at least he was a stranger to _her_) she was greeted by another familiar face.

"Miss Black?"

"Quentin!" She beamed up and the friendly face of Quentin Jones; his skin slightly paler than she remembered and his brown hair was lined with a few streaks of grey. Behind him stood a girl not much older than Nymphadora; she looked so much like her mother it was a weight on Andromeda's heart.

"It's good to see you again" he said.

"And you! Oh and it's Mrs Tonks now".

"Ah wonderful! I'd forgotten you were engaged when I left" he gestured towards the girl behind him; "this is my daughter Hestia".

"Hello Hestia" she smiled at the girl.

"Hello-" Hestia replied shyly.

"I turned my hair pink for the firs-"

"Sit down, Nymphadora; the wedding's about to start". Her hair turned orange in protest and she looked disappointed at not being able to share her anicdote, but all the same she sat down in her seat.

"Can we sit with you?" Quentin whispered as the bridal music began to play; Andromeda nodded and made room for the wizard and his daughter next to her own seat. She knew the bride as one of her former Muggle Studies students; though she often kept to herself and outside classes she only spoke to a few students. Now as a woman she noticed how beautiful she was; lilies had been woven into her veil and her red hair was rippling down her slender back. She joined two young men at the front of the church; one of them was Sirius, the best man, the other was a cocky student who Andomeda remembered arguing with in the Shrieking Shack, but the years had made him more humble.

After the ceremony the guests left following the newlyweds out of the church; there was a hall on the opposite side of Godric's Hollow where the celebrations would commence. As she was about to leave too she was stopped by a tap on the shoulder; it was strong but friendly at the same time.

"Frank".

"Andromeda, could I have a word?" She told Nymphadora to wait by the door and followed the auror towards the benches at the front of the almost deserted church; knowing that it must be serious news from the Order than he wanted to impart as it was rare for an Order member to approach her in public.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sure you're aware that, since you joined the Order, there haven't been many major developments in the inevitable war-"

"Of course there have been! Voldemort has been attacking Muggles nonstop for five years and his army is expanding-"

"I know" he interrupted; "I meant that he hasn't yet lauched a full attack on any of the major magical establishments; the Ministry, Hogwarts".

"But now you think he will do?" they had all been waiting for the Death Eaters to make a major move like this but now that it was growing closer it felt all-too-real.

"I think you should tell Ted to leave his post at the Ministry. He's a Muggle-born; it won't be safe for him there if You-Know-Who infiltrates the Ministry of Magic".

"He says you need him to spy, his office is closer to the Minister than yours"

"We do, but that doesn't mean we're prepared to risk his life". Andromeda grew very emotional at this; since joining the Order of the Phoenix she had received all of her orders, few as they may be, through Frank Longbottom and despite his courage and reputation he was always understanding and down-to-earth.

"I turned my hair pink for the first time this morning!" bellowed Nymphadora again as she came running down the aisle towards them; Andromeda had forgotten that she had been waiting by the door in the seriousness of Frank's news.

"Nymphadora!- " she didn't like shouting at her daughter.

"It's fine, Andromeda. I know it's unlikely but have you heard from any of-"

"No, Frank. I've told Dumbledore a thousand times; other than Sirius my family doesn't want anything to do with me anymore". Over the years Andromeda had come to terms with losing Narcissa and she had never really been close to Bellatrix or her parents; but Sirius hadn't been his same cheery self ever since he found out his brother had joined the Death Eaters a few months ago, and he was no longer living with his family.

"Maybe you could-"

"Me and Sirius are going to go to Grimmauld Place tomorrow; see what we can find; Dumbledore didn't want us to with us being 'blood traitors' but he said everyone else is busy. What are you and Alice working on at the moment?"

"Alice _isn't _working at the moment and I'm trying to track down your sisters; I would feel a lot better if I had someone go with you to Grimmauld Place, I could ask Kingsley-"

"His brother-in-law's returned to the country and he has to keep an eye on the Minister, he's got enough to deal with at the moment without having to sort out _my _family problems as well".

"Well let me send _someone_ with you. I can have them meet you a few streets away; I know exactly who to send with you, afterall some of the Black family are supposed to still live there so it could potentially be dangerous".

"Fine; just don't send someone too military-obsessed" he looked away mischievously; "Why isn't Alice working?" she didn't want to be so inqusitive but she had to make sure that everyone from the Order was alright; Ted always wants to know if everyone's still alive.

"Well;" he smiled in a boyish fashion, "we're having a baby"

"That's amazing, Frank!"

"Thanks. It's early days yet but I don't want her fighting Death Eaters while she's pregnant; hopefully this will all be over before the little one arrives" he was crying slightly; he really was a lot more compassionate than most of the aurors in the Order.

She took hold of Nymphadora's hand and was prepared to apparate when Frank called her back for one final word; "And I hope you don't mind; but I'm sending Alastor with you tomorrow". _Great _Andromeda thought as she and her daughter apparated from the church; _a family reunion with Sirius and Mad-Eye Moody; give me a Death Eater any day. _


	2. Nicknames

_"Alohomora"_ she exclaimed quietly; aiming her wand at the lock on the front door. As it creaked open Andromeda had the strangest feeling that number twelve, Grimmauld Place wasn't unoccupied.

"Why don't you just throw sparks in the air and get us spotted _more _easily, Tonks" Alastor whispered angrily; "Keep the magic to a minimum and the voice just as quiet!"

"I was doing!" she protested indignantly; "and don't call me _Tonks!_"

"Actually it suits you" piped up Sirius from behind them; Andromeda crept into the house holding back a retort but smiling all the same. She still wasn't happy that Frank had sent Moody with her for backup; she would have preferred anyone else but last night Ted had told her she was patrolling with the best.

"There isn't a single auror at the Minister more sharp-eyed and on-the-ball than Alastor; you'll be fine, 'Dromeda" he had said. She had convinced him to stay home from the Minister today, claiming an illness; so that he and Nymphadora would be safe.

The house of her aunt and uncle was as dark and dreary as she remembered it, but the look on Sirius' face told her that it had become more desolate and unkempt since he had run away a few months ago. The furniture was mostly black leather; the walls either charcoal-grey or mouldy-green; _it's as if Salazar Slytherin threw up all over the walls _she thought bitterly to herself.

"Should we split-" Sirius began.

"Quiet boy! Do you want those dirty betraying rotten . . . parents . . . of yours to know we're here? You'll blow this entire operation!" Alastor snapped.

"Mr Moody, this isn't a military operation-"

"Hush, Tonks!"

"Don't call me tha-"

"We should split up". Sirius, angry at the fact his tactic had been stolen, chose to search the upper floors where Andromeda knew his bedroom and his memories were. Moody uttered something about searching the paintings for spies and Andromeda decided to search the kitchen.

What struck her first was how non-homely her uncle's home really was; the racked wooden tables and cabinets didn't really scream family-living when combined with the lack of food and people. The second thing which struck her was a feeble voice crying from inside one of the lower cupboards. She pulled back a makeshift curtain to find one of the many unloved faces of her terrible childhood.

"Kreacher!" The house-elf looked at her with a mixture of shock and disgust as if she had no right to enter the dump which was his living quarters. His face was much more wrinkled than it was the last time she had visited Grimmauld place; back when she was just a child and still considered a member of the family; his loincloth was as ragged and dirty as ever.

"Why are you crying?" she asked in a neutral tone; just like she human members of the Black family she had no pity or sympathy for someone who had willingly chosen to cast her out.

"Kreacher does not answer to blood traitors" he spat.

"Answer me! Have they hurt you? Was it Orion? Walburga? Regulus?" but at the last name he burst into another uncontrollable fit of tears which sounded so monstrous it was almost unreal; "so it was Regulus who hurt you?"

"Master Regulus would _never _hurt Kreacher! Master Regulus cared for Kreacher and sacrificed himself for Kreacher!"

"What did you say?"

"I- I- filthy blood traitor!" he threw an old porcelain mug at Andromeda before running under her legs and around the kitchen table. She chased after him with her wand at the ready, but he was too quick and desperate to be caught.

_"Impedimenta!" _bellowed Moody from the rear entrance to the kitchen; sending Kreacher into a frozen stupor that held him firmly in place. "You need more training, Tonks" he said to her from across the room; like a teacher to a pupil.

"Firstly I was doing fine on my own, secondly my name is not _Tonks, _and thirdly it's too late for me to be an auror so there's no training needed". Despite her skills at duelling, the memory of the greenhouses and Nelly had always been a clear warning that she should stay away from such a violent profession, _yet here I am_ she thought scornfully.

"It's never too late, Tonks" she knew he was using the name because she disapproved of it so much, "every auror needs a protégé".

"Wait a few years and I'll give you my daughter" she smiled jokingly.

"Excellent; Nymphadora'll make a fine addition!"

"I was just jok-"

"Come along, Tonks. Time to question the elf!" She had given up trying to reason with him; she had even stooped low enough to try and pull a face behind his back but she knew that that eye of his was swivelling in her direction.

"I know I don't know you very well, Alastor, so I'm sorry if this is somewhat a personal question-"

"How did I get my eye?"

"Well, yes". She felt awkward and tense now, but instead of releasing Kreacher he pulled up two of the scarred wooden chairs and sat down in one of them; gesturing for her to do the same.

"A few years ago I was on holiday in Bulgaria, with my family" he started.

"Your family?"

"Yes; my wife and our two children. I was off duty when it happened; the Death Eater Igor Karkaroff set two of his minions on them when I was out one day, I found out later that my son escaped but the others were not so lucky".

"I had no idea".

I ran after the wizards who killed my wife and daughter but instead of catching them I ran into Igor Karkaroff himself. He blasted my eye away and I sent _him _to Azkaban for life imprisonment. My wife Drusilla had been on the donor list at St Mungo's Hospital and-"

"You didn't-"

"I used some of my own magic on it first" he said in his gruff voice, sounded much too nonchalant for such a gruesome topic, "but yes, it makes me think of her. Everyone thinks I'm mad for it, those who know the truth anyway, and most of them stay clear of me, but Albus has his reasons for trusting me".

"Which are?" she had always wanted what the Hogwarts headmaster had seen in someone so transcendent.

"Before we got married my wife was Drusilla Dumbledore". There was a strange silence in the room as Andromeda's respect for the mad auror grew and grew in the darkness of the Grimmauld Place kitchen.

"What happened to your son?"

"I know he's alive and that he's being looked after; apart from that I haven't got a clue, but I do know that he changed his name for protection". She was about to ask why he didn't look into it more, but he had risen from his chair and was now approaching Kreacher; whom he had just released from the bonds of his jinx.

"Tell me all that you know, elf".

"Master Regulus is dead".

"How?"

"It doesn't matter how!" he croaked; "he was of the noble and most ancient house of Black and now he has been taken from us".

"But he was a Death-"

_"Stupefy!" _Luckily the spell had missed the three potential targets in the room; the eager smile on Kreacher's face told Andromeda who had cast the jinx.

"Get out of my house, blood traitor! You are no longer welcome here!" screamed the voice of Walburga Black. Her robes were straggling along behind her as she stormed into the kitchen filled with fury and vicious intent.

_"Expelliarmus!"_ Andromeda's disarming spell had reached its target and caught Walburga off guard; looking around desperately for her wand. Moody was ruthless, pushing her to the ground with shear brute force and pulling Andromeda out the kitchen door by the wrist, "time to run, Tonks!" Her levels of dread were so high that for once she didn't even mind the name.

"Tell your cousin I'm sorry about this" he muttered.

"Sorry about wh-"

_"Accio Sirius"_ they heard the voice of a young man wailing as he was thrown down at least six flights of stairs; his arms flailing around his head in protection and terror the entire time. Moody tried his best to land Sirius safely on his feet but to Andromeda he didn't appear to be putting in a lot of effort. "That" he eventually answered, ushering them both over the threshold and outside into the street.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked frantically; panting as they ran down the cobbled street adjoining Grimmauld Place.

"I'm sorry, Sirius" Andromeda consoled; "Regulus is dead and your mother found us interrogating Kreacher".

"Did you find anything?" Moody insisted; she thought this was highly inappropriate seeing as he had just discovered that his brother was dead, but nevertheless he appeared to be still with them.

"Just one thing" he said, "Bellatrix is living upstairs".


	3. Wanderings with Werewolves

"How can you call him a lunatic after everything he's been through?" Andromeda said to her husband indignantly; she was surprised that she was defending none other than Alastor Moody and even more shocked that she had to argue with Ted about it.

"This _story _that he told you-" Ted began

"It wasn't a story! That's a horrible thing to say!" After returning home she'd thought the most pressing matter would be getting kicked out of Grimmauld Place by her murderous aunt but she hadn't had chance to discuss her findings yet. She had seen Sirius back to his temporary home with his friend's parents and then come home to find herself immersed in a heated argument with her usually welcoming husband.

"It happened a few months ago, 'Dromeda, not a few years; he doesn't know what he's saying half the time! you don't listen to _anything _our superiors at the Order brief us about!"

"Well" this caught her off guard slightly; "anyone can make a mistake-" she was referring to Moody, but the way Ted had said superiors made her wish she was speaking on his behalf.

"Also it was his baby daughter that survived, not his son"

"But that doesn't mean-"

"And his wife wasn't a Dumbledore. Albus trusts him because he was a good auror in his day, his wife wasn't even natively English so there's no reason for him to think that she was a Dumbledore because pure-blood families often stay-"

"You know what?" she interjected, "you're becoming more and more like them everyday". She had known this for a while now. She hated hearing him talk to her so formally as if he were a commander and she were a cadet; and the way he referred to Dumbledore as _Albus _told her all she needed to know about where he now stood and who was most important to him.

"Are you saying I'm a Death-" he almost sounded furious, but Andromeda cut him ff anyway.

"Of course not! I meant the aurors; the Order! You talk to me like I'm just another soldier in the war, like I'm just the same to you as everybody else!".

"Well . . . you are". He didn't seem to realise how hurtful this was but nevertheless Andromeda burst into an angry fit of tears at his harsh words.

"I thought we were more than that" she whispered.

"Oh I didn't mean-"

"I know what you meant". Without looking back she stormed out the room and ran as fast as she could up the staircase. She had never argued with Ted about anything but she was starting to realise just how unlovable he had grown with the outbreak of war looming evermore. She didn't know if he was telling the truth about Moody; maybe it _was _his daughter who had been rescued and maybe his wife _was _from abroad; but none of that mattered if Ted had truly started seeing her in the same way he saw everyone else.

Nymphadora's bedroom was multicoloured like her hair but there were various patches of yellow as if the Hufflepuff inside her was starting to show itself. Today she was sporting a blonde hairstyle that fluttered down past her dainty shoulders. Oddly she was sat cross-legged on her bed reading 'Wanderings with Werewolves' by the debut novelist Gilderoy Lockhart; it worried Andromeda to think whether it was author or the subject which interested her daughter the most.

"I'm home, Nymphadora"

"Mum!" she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and ran towards her mother for a bear hug, "do you _have _to call me Nymphadora?" she whined. Andromeda thought back to Grimmauld Place and Moody's new nickname for her as she set her daughter down on the bed.

"I need you to do something for me" she said.

"What is it, mum?"

"I'm going to go away for a while; I think your father could really do without me being around to annoy him for a while" she tried to laugh in an attempt to cover up her sadness but it only brought the tears back; "so once I'm gone I need you to pass on a message for me".

"I'm sure he doesn't want you to go"

"He won't admit that, dear. But I know he does". Her daughter looked as if she wanted to protest, but Andromeda reassured her by saying "besides, it means you get to boss him around for a while" this seemed to cheer her up slightly.

"What's the message?"

"I'll write it down". It took her half an hour to write the message because she couldn't put her thoughts and her sorrows into words, and she spent most of the time looking at Nymphadora longingly as she read her werewolf book eagerly. Finally, after strapping a certain valuable item to the parchment, she handed the tear-stained letter to the blonde-going-on-ginger haired girl and knelt down to look into her eyes.

"Don't think for one second that I'm abandoning you, sweetheart" she said calmly, "I'll come back". Nymphadora threw her arms around her mother once more before Andromeda closed the door; not taking her eyes off the girl for a single second.

She packed lightly; deciding that she wouldn't need dress robes or fashionable attire where she was going. Aside from her clothes she packed a remembrall that Narcissa had given her when they were children, an ornate serpent ornament that Bellatrix had given her when she started Hogwarts, and a tiny replica of a Whomping Willow which had been grown for her by Ted.

"Where are yougoing, dearest?" bellowed one of the portraits from the wall as she made her way down the stairs with her suitcase.

"It's complicated, Hepzibah" she told the woman in the painting. The plump lady had apparently looked after Ted's father when he was a baby and watched over him as he grew up, despite the fact that being a Muggle he had no idea who the woman really was. Still, Ted had bought the painting for his father at Diagon Alley in his second year at Hogwarts but was given it back when his father died. The woman, now eternally encased in artistic form, was a constant form of irritation to Andromeda.

"Come on, darling. Tell auntie Hepzibah"

"I have to get going"

"Does Ted know that you're leaving?" but Andromeda was out the front door before she had chance to reply to the portrait. Thankfully, however, Hepzibah's interference had taken her mind off the fact that she was in effect leaving the husband that she cared so much about, despite his unhealthy obsession with the Order of the Phoenix. She trudged through the snow, on her way to the only place she could think of where shelter and advice would be provided by the person she had needed with her for years.

"What've you got there, 'Dora?"

"A letter from mum; she wanted me to give it to you". Nymphadora's tears were disturbing as Ted took the parchment from her. Strapped to it was the wand that was the mirror image to his; a wand that he thought had been left in the grave with its owner. He began reading the parting words of his wife.

_ Ted,_

_ I realise now that whilst this war is still hanging over our heads you'll never be able to see the love between us that was once more powerful than any dark magic. That's why I've decided to spare us both any more pain by 'killing the patient before the disease starts to spread' if you understand what I mean. I love you so much, Ted. But I can't stay here if it means we get closer and closer to being separated forever; so I've gone to find _her_, because right now she's the only person, dead or alive, who I can turn to._

_Loving you no matter how much you despise me at this moment in time,_

_ Andromeda._

Ted ran into the street the second after staring solemnly at the name which was two letters too long; Nymphadora staring longingly with tears in her eyes at her father through the wide-open door; but it was too late. Andromeda had left the house long before he had chance to tell her that he _did _still love her and always would; that she was just another soldier in the war but so much more in his heart.


	4. The Painting

The London street had been peacefully quiet before the Muggle witnesses had been attacked by the _Confundus _charm, but now the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic was on the verge of being breached and the atmosphere had turned to chaos.

_"Stupefy!" _screamed the cackling figure in the distance, whose presence was both a surprise and a horror to the aurors who had run frantically out into the street when the invasion began. As the mist cleared they could see the straggly black ringlets of her hair and the ruff black leather that clothed her emerging from between the buildings.

_"Avada Kadavra!" _she roared in sadistic delight as terrified Muggles fled before her, causing more panic amongst the Ministry workers.

"Sound the alarm!" shouted Jacob from the front line; "tell the Minister that it's Bellatrix Lestrange!" He ran forwards to make sure that civilians were out of the way before he allowed his men and women to retaliate the Death Eater's spells. The windows in the nearby shops and houses glowed green from the killing curse and red from the spilling of blood. "Now!" he cried.

It was several minutes later before he realised that almost all of his aurors had been killed and by that time Bellatrix Lestrange was stood before him with poison in her eyes and a wand in her hand.

"You knew my name" she sneered.

"I would never forget it" he spat back.

"How sweet; what makes you hate me so much?"

"Besides being a Death Eater? You killed my daughter!"

"Remind me, I've killed a lot of people"

"Her name was Nymphadora and you killed her because she was trying to save her friends!"

"Of course! My first kill. It served her right for defending a blood traitor and a filthy mudblood-"

_"Expelliarmus!"_

_ "Avada Kadavra!" _Jacob's disarming spell had missed her but Bellatrix's killing curse had caught its target full in the chest. She cackled at the top of her incessant voice as she stepped over the now motionless Jacob White and blew the doors off the telephone box.

Andromeda had spent only one night in The Leaky Cauldron so that she could reach her destination as soon as possible; this was something she should have done a long time ago. She was stood in a small wizarding village that was dusted with snow and had trees positioned around the quaint houses. She found the house she was looking for at the edge of the main square and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" muttered a young boy from the other side of the door; he looked a little bit older than Andromeda's daughter and had golden hair which was darker than that of the other members of this family she had met before; his eyes reminded her of the river she had passed on her journey to the village.

"My name is Andromeda; are your parents in?" she asked.

"My dad isn't back from work yet" he answered; "but my mum's home; I'll go get her". The boy closed the door and ran up the stairs by the sound of it. It was a few minutes later before the door reopened and a familiar middle-aged woman stood before her.

"It _has _been a while" she said neutrally.

"I should have visited a long time before now, Mrs White. Please don't think I don't cry for her every day".

"Spare your empty sentiments" she snapped bitterly; "I'm sorry, it's been a stressful ten years if I do say so. Come in" Andromeda silently forgave the woman who had lost so much and followed her into the little cottage.

"I can't believe it's been ten years since she died" she said to Mrs White.

"Some days I still can't believe she's gone"

"I understand how hard it must be"

"I would say that you can't possibly understand, but from what I've been told you have seen your fair share of tragedy on the battlefield".

"Who told you that?"

"_Her, _of course". Andromeda felt both warm and cold at the same time at the thought of the person she had come to visit watching over her all this time; it brought back some of the hope she had lost.

"Is that boy her brother?" she asked Mrs White.

"Adoptive brother, yes. He won't tell us who his biological parents are; says it's too dangerous; but we know that he is a pure-blood. We found him wandering around on his own when we were working in Bulgaria a few years ago and, well, it's been hard without Nymphadora-". Mrs White stopped talking when the two women reached the top of the stairs and had a clear view of a painting at the far end of the corridor. "I'll leave you to it".

Andromeda was nearly in tears when she saw the familiar blonde hair and yellow-and-black Hufflepuff uniform that she remembered so well. The girl was stood in front of the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts; although she had never played the game herself she was very fond of watching.

"Hello" Andromeda whispered.

"Indeed" smiled Nelly back at her. She looked maybe two years younger than she had been when she had died but she talked more sophisticatedly with an educated tone; Andromeda could see in her eyes that she had the same memories and tragedies of the girl who had sacrificed herself for the boy she loved.

"Teddy misses you" the painting said.

"I was about to say the same thing to you"

"He didn't want me around-"

"You know that's not true. He doesn't care if you stick up for mad aurors (who aren't in reality that mad) or hate the Order of the Phoenix; he just wants you to return to him and your daughter". Andromeda's mixture of tears and smiling juxtaposed all the emotions she had oppressed for a decade.

"We named her-"

"You gave her that embarrassing name of mine just to keep my memory alive; I love you both even more for that". Andromeda wanted desperately to hug the painting but she knew it would only show her how far away her friend really was.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to fight your sisters and help to end this war as well as dealing with the losses which are yet to come".

"What do you mean?"

"As we speak Albus Dumbledore is interviewing for a position at Hogwarts where he will be given a prophecy which will be vital in the coming battles. However once a prophecy has been spoken it can't be broken. You need to find answers to the secrets".

"What secrets? How?"

"You want to find the lost child of the madman, the location of the wild-haired witch who killed me, the danger that your husband is in, your daughter's obsession with certain magical creatures . . . the list is more extensive than you know".

"But how do I find the answers?"

"There is a painting of the dead African witch at the Ministry of Magic; you should visit her first".

"You mean Kendra Shacklebolt?" Nelly nodded. Andromeda was already striding towards the stairs when her old friend called her back.

"My mother doesn't yet know that a few minutes ago my father was murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange whilst attempting to deny her entry into the Ministry; your husband is currently at work, do not let the same happen to him". Andromeda was out the door before she had time to say goodbye to Mrs White and the young boy as the thought of Ted being surrounded by the deathly green light gave her the adrenaline to rescue him which only Nelly was able to instil in her.


	5. The Order Assembles

She had assembled nine other members of the Order at short notice to go on ahead to the Ministry of Magic in order to attempt 'rescue and apprehension' of captives and Death Eaters. Both Frank Longbottom and James Potter were without their wives as now both of them were expecting babies; it felt like only a few weeks ago that the Potters had gotten married. Kingsley and Quentin were also present; who were now living under the same roof so that Kingsley could spend more time with his niece. Sirius and Remus had arrived with James carrying handfuls of spare wands in case anyone was disarmed and they were accompanied by an auburn-haired woman who Andromeda recognised from her brief spell as a teacher at Hogwarts called Carmen. Surprisingly Mrs White had apparated to their hiding place as soon as she had learnt of her husband's death; fuelled with anger and vengeance. The last to arrive was Moody who, as usual, was barking at them for making too much noise and giving away their position.

"Does anyone have a plan?" Remus asked sceptically.

"Tonks will, of course" bellowed Moody; "she's acting group leader, after all". Andromeda didn't even bother to protest at the nickname this time. At this Frank Longbottom came to his senses and began: "I think I should-"

"No" said Sirius indignantly, with nods of approval from Kingsley and Mrs White; "_Tonks _is the one who rallied us and warned us of the Ministry invasion so she is group leader". She didn't know if we emphasised 'Tonks' because she deserved to be in charge or because he liked using the name without being shouted at.

"Three teams" she stated; "Frank will take the visitor's entrance with Remus and Mrs White. James, there's a portkey at Grimmauld Place which Moody created that'll take you straight to Umbridge's office (my old office) at the heart of the Ministry; go there now with Moody and Carmen" she pointed at the woman with the auburn hair. Carmen Ironwood had been in James's year at school but in Ravenclaw house. James gave her a military nod and the trio headed off towards the end of the street.

"And us, Andromeda?" Quentin asked.

"You, Sirius and Kingsley will take the employee's entrance into the Ministry with me, so be prepared to fight" she was about to move off when she decided on impulse to face the auror once more; "and until this battle is won I want you to refer to me as Tonks"; at this she gave Sirius a proud smile.

The two remaining groups moved in opposite directions as they made their way to the two entrances that led to the Ministry of Magic. The toilet cubicles were as grubby and desolate as ever so Andromeda had no worries about being temporarily separated from her male companions as she entered the 'Ladies' and flushed herself into the atrium.

...

"Come out come out little Mudbloods" chided Bellatrix in the office foyer. Ted could see the heels of her black leather boots from under the table where he was hiding with several other Ministry employees; "Sneak – a – peak" the Death Eater whispered hauntingly. Louisa Highsmith, a middle-aged half-blood witch who worked in Ted's department, was trying desperately to hold out a cry as she looked down at the nearby body of her lifeless nephew.

"I can't do this, Ted" she whispered to him.

"Be brave" he tried to reassure her just as quietly.

"Let me go"

"No, don't give her the satisfaction of killing you because to her it will be the _greatest_ satisfaction". But the woman stood up anyway; ambling towards Bellatrix as if she welcomed death.

"And who might you be?"

"L-Louisa H-Highsmith"

"And what is your blood status; _L-Louisa H-Highsmith?"_ she mocked.

"H-Half-blood"

_"Crucio!"_ it was painful even for Ted as he watched the almost elderly woman cower and writhe on the carpeted office floor. He thought about going through the torture of that curse himself, and also of seeing Andromeda go through it.

"Leave her!" he cried as he stood up from his place of concealment.

"Well" Bellatrix began; "if it isn't Mr Mudblood himself. How's sis? heard she had a freak little brat a few years ago-"

_"Expelliarmus!" _but Bellatrix deflected it.

"Tut tut; you filthy wretch!" her wand wavered for a split second, giving Louisa a chance to breathe whilst the Death Eater focused all her anger on Ted. "You will lose everything before this war is over, mudblood, and I'll start by killing that purple-haired mongrel you call a daughter!"

_"Stupefy!" _this time Ted's jinx hit his sister-in-law right in the face, causing her to fly into a nearby desk and release her hold on Louisa. The exit to the office was clear, which allowed Ted to hastily lead his colleagues out of the door.

_"Avada Kadavra!" _screamed Bellatrix as she regained her footing; taking the life out of Ronan Gillespie from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office. Ted was so furious he forgot about Louisa who was still sprawled across the floor in agony.

_"Petrificus Totalus!" _

_ "Petrificus Totalus!"_

The two people in the room who were still standing cast their spells as the same time as several of the enchanted windows smashed around them. At the last second Bellatrix cast her spell again so that the colliding streams of light flew into Ted's direction and sent him crashing to the floor, paralysed. Bellatrix then turned towards the shaking form of Louisa and roared _"Avada Kadavra!" _with a menacing flourish of her wand. As Louisa's body became as motionless as her nephew's Ted's only consolation was the look of exhaustion of Bellatrix's face; the moist ringlets of tangled black hair that was pasted to her face with sweat was a clear sign that he had been a challenge for her.

"You, mudblood, will stay here while I talk with the Dark Lord" she said to his paralysed form as she rubbed the black tattoo-like mark on her arm, "and then I'll come back and kill you once and for all". Ted lay on the floor filled with hopelessness and regret as the sound of her shoes grew quieter and quieter down the hall outside; his biggest regret was that he would die knowing that Andromeda had left him.

...

_"Stupefy!" _exclaimed Andromeda as she emerged from the fireplace into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Her spell threw a burly Death Eater into the central fountain but caught the attention of a second masked villain.

_"Impedimenta!"_ called out Sirius; it was incredible how skilled a dueller he was for such a young man although Andromeda knew that he had experience in the field. Kingsley came sliding out another fireplace and threw at least four silent jinxes that Andromeda didn't recognise towards a large group of Death Eaters near the lifts; his own body being protected by Quentin's signature protective enchantments.

"Tonks!" yelled Sirius from the opposite side of the fountain; his wavy black hair glistening with water from the pool's contact with the Death Eaters' curses; "get to the lifts; you need to find the painting!"

"I'll come with you!" interjected Quentin from the visitor's entrance; where worryingly Frank, Remus and Mrs White had not yet emerged. "I need to see her!" Andromeda knew exactly what he meant and she understood completely, but it was a heartless risk to leave Kingsley and Sirius alone.

_"Incendio!"_ Fire swarmed around at least six Death Eaters from the direction of the telephone box which had a few moments ago been suspended in the air. Rippling orange flames were flying from Mrs White's wand as she ran from the visitor's entrance, closely followed by Frank and Remus with wands at the ready.

"Tonks! We need to go now!" Satisfied that the Death Eaters would get what they deserved, and with a new sense of hope and belonging in the Order of the Phoenix, Andromeda followed the sound of Quentin's desperate voice towards the lifts that would take them to Ted, Kendra and possibly Bellatrix Lestrange.


	6. One of Three

_"Stupefy!" _yelled Quentin through the mesh of the lift doors, sending two Death Eaters flying into adjoining offices. Andromeda followed him out into the dimly-lit corridor; signs of death and destruction were flowing through the rooms on either side of them. "This way" Quentin ordered. They only met one more of the hooded villains on their way to the Auror Office so it felt like only a few short minutes had passed by the time they reached the stacked up paintings.

"She's somewhere near the top" said Quentin.

"How do we get up there?"

"_We _don't; I'll levitate you up there"

"But she was your wife!" Andromeda protested, "don't you want to speak to her?"

"It's like Sirius said; this is _your_ quest, not mine". They stood in silence for a few moments longer before she gave the aging wizard a nod and stood at the bottom of the high ceilinged wall. Every fallen auror had a painting on this wall to commemorate their bravery and chivalry; Andromeda found it daunting to think that all the friends she had made in the Order would one day die and end up on this wall looking down on those who survived.

_"Wingardium Leviosa" _Quentin's charm sent her soaring towards the very top; not violently like the stunning jinx had done to the Death Eaters but gracefully as if she could just keep floating upwards, leaving all her troubles behind.

"Nice weather we've got up here. Wouldn't you say so, Tonks?" she heard the rhythmic voice of Kendra Shacklebolt before she saw the gaudy jewellery around her dark neck and the eyes which were so much like her brother's and daughter's.

"Much better with you up here" Andromeda smiled.

"I hate it" she moaned; "I want to be out there helping you fight them, I'm no use to anyone while I'm stuck in this picture frame".

"That's actually not true; an old friend of mine told me that you could give me the answers to the secrets I want to uncover".

"Those silly things? Please, you know some of them already".

"I do?"

"You have your suspicions why Tonks junior has taken an interest in magical creatures; you just don't want to admit it even though it's cute. Your husband faces immeasurable danger like you thought; one of my neighbours here" she gestured towards the paintings at either side of her, "let slip that he's been left in one of the offices on his floor, trapped by your sister's paralysis jinx. Bellatrix Lestrange is currently with her master in the Department of Mysteries and you've already met Alastor Moody's son".

"I have-?"

"No time to talk; two Death Eaters are approaching. But before you go, tell Quentin that I've seen the way he acts around Carmen Ironwood; tell him that she _isn't _too young for him, she _does _like him back and that I love him enough to understand that it's time for him to move on".

"Tonks!" Quentin shouted frantically from the bottom of the wall; "we need to go, now!" Andromeda gave a hasty goodbye to the painting of the auror and was lowered to the ground, but not before she noticed that the plague on the picture frame said _Kendra Jones_ rather than the name she had adopted in life.

...

"I have given you enough opportunities to kill your sister and her friends, Bellatrix" hissed the haunting voice of the Dark Lord from underneath his hood, "but if any of them leave the Ministry alive I will make it my personal duty to eliminate this _Order of the Phoenix_"; he said it with scorn and distaste. Lydia White had been hiding behind a giant stone pillar for several minutes just listening to this conversation and she grew more and more terrified as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named slithered his words.

Kinsley had instructed her to make her way up to the Minister's office to see if the third party (consisting of James Potter, Carmen Ironwood and Alastor Moody) had found their way into the building and were indeed still alive. On her way their, however, she had seen none other than the monstrous figure of Bellatrix Lestrange and had decided to follow the woman who had killed her daughter and now her husband to see if she could have her revenge.

"My Lord, as we speak my youngest sister and her husband have gone looking for the blood traitor with the Carrows and before you summoned me I was about to kill the Mudblood Tonks".

"Do you insinuate that it is _my _fault that you did not kill him quickly enough?!" she spat with venom and contempt. Bellatrix cowered slightly before regaining her composure and addressing her master.

"I will return now, my Lord, and finish the deed".

"Before you go; levitate that stone pillar for me. It appears we have an intruder". Bellatrix didn't question his judgement and caused the pillar to fly into the air as if a giant or a troll had removed it from the ground. Mrs White was no longer shielded in her place of concealment but stood almost face to face with the darkest wizard in the world.

"And who might you be?" he hissed at her.

"Lydia White?"

"Do you fear death, Lydia White?"

"That woman's caused enough of it in my family for me to keep up the pretence that there's something to be scared of" she said bitterly, pointing her finger angrily at Bellatrix. She spent the silence that followed thinking about her adoptive son; there was a time when she thought she knew who his father was, but then she remembered what Nelly's painting had said to her. _The blue eye's child is one of three. _She thought of this little prophecy; using her feeble talents in occlumency to send it to the first person she could think of. Standing in the Department of Mysteries she realised how hopeless it was to fight the dark arts as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named smiled at her and screeched _"avada kadavra!" _with a wave of his wand.

...

Carmen didn't know what she found the most horrifying as she made her way down the desolate Ministry corridor; the fact that she recognised some of the lifeless bodies as her fellow students from when she was at Hogwarts or the fact that she knew in her heart that some of those students had joined the Death Eaters and caused all this to happen.

"You need to be lighter on your feet!" snapped Moody from the doorway of an office behind her "you'll blow this entire operation, Ironwood!"

"Has anyone ever told you that by shouted at us _you're _giving away our position just as much?" Moody went red in the face and resumed his search of the office.

Surprisingly he came through for them at Grimmauld Place by finding the portkey in no time and without rousing the Mrs Black from her bed. According to James she was now living alone with her house-elf because her husband had been taken ill and died a few days earlier. Umbridge's office had been teeming with Death Eaters when they had arrived but James had stayed behind to fight them so that the others could go and search for survivors. Carmen hoped he was okay; she hoped everyone was okay; especially Quentin Jones, but she couldn't make herself think about him right now.

_"Lumos" _she exclaimed; casting a faint white glow on the office at the far end of the passage. The room was decorated with blood and bodies but there was one who appeared to be moving for a fraction of a second out of the corner of her eye.

"You're Ted Tonks, aren't you? Oh right, you can't answer me; sorry" she flourished her wand to cast the counter-curse that would free him of the paralytic state.

"What happened?" she asked him desperately after he caught his breath.

"Bellatrix – Lestrange – coming – back – any – minute – now"

"Are you sure?"; he nodded painfully in response, "how will we know that she's on her way?"

"I'll sing" cackled a menacing voice from the office entrance, "miss me Mudblood? told you I'd be back". Behind her was a roughly dressed man with shaggy hair and a murderous expression who Carmen knew only too well to be Rodolphus Lestrange.

"You were one of the thugs who killed my family!" she cried at the man; her electric blue eyes filled with sparks of fury (she surprised herself by mentioning her family, who she hadn't been able to associate herself with for many years now); "when we were on holiday in B-"

_"Crucio!" _ he interrupted. Now both of the Order members were cowering on the floor in pain, about to be killed by two people who had already caused them both too much torment. The husband and wife raised their wands with murderous pleasure as they prepared to cry out _"avada kadavra!"_ but fell to the floor before they could utter the words after being gruesomely knocked unconscious by a severed leg.

"That wretched scoundrel blew my leg off!" roared Moody in anger from the doorway.

...

_"Stupefy!" _Andromeda yelled at the Death Eaters blocking their exit from the portrait room. The man crashed into one of the lower and therefore oldest of the auror paintings as his sinister companion cried out in outrage; "Amycus! That was my brother you filthy blood traitor!"

"And that's my friend, bitch!" Quentin retaliated, throwing silent jinxes at the stout female Death Eater.

"Leave them, Quentin! Let's go" Andromeda ordered as she pulled the auror by his wrist to drag him along beside her; she could have sworn she heard one of the Death Eaters shouting "Malfoy!" behind her. The journey in the lift felt like a lifetime as the heard the desperate cries of Order members and Ministry workers ricocheting off the underground walls. Finally they emerged once again into the atrium where Kingsley was shouting _"Impedimenta!" _from the top of the fountain's golden statue as if it were a makeshift plinth. Andromeda and Quentin didn't hesitate; they took out their wands and started casting various defensive and offensive spells in the direction of the oncoming Death Eaters.

_"Expelliarmus!" _cried a familiar voice at Andromeda. She looked up to see the lightning-blonde hair that embodied Narcissa as her wand flew from her hand. She was more surprised at the swollen stomach that revealed something about her younger sister she had not known until now.

"You're . . . pregnant?"

"I bet you think I'm mad for coming here when I'm carrying a baby" Narcissa whispered; "but the Dark Lord doesn't care, he punished Lucius for causing this 'hindrance' in his battle plan" she almost sounded bitter about it.

"You're not one of them, Cissy".

"I am a loyal servant of the Dark Lord"

"If you were then you would've killed me rather than disarm me". There was silence between the two sisters for a while as the lights from a hundred wands came soaring past their teary faces.

"Take it" she muttered to Andromeda coldly.

"What is it?"

"It's a portkey; in thirty seconds it will take you to the highest floor of the Ministry where your husband is waiting with three of your Order members. Then after another ten seconds it will take you to the street outside. Tell your companions in the atrium to retreat through the fireplaces".

"Cissy, I-"

"Next time I'll let Bellatrix kill you, I don't have a choice". Narcissa was already ambling towards the lifts before Andromeda had a chance to find the Order members in the atrium. Her sister had disappeared behind the golden mesh when Andromeda had passed the message of retreat onto the breathless Kingsley and had sailed into darkness with the portkey clutched firmly in her bleeding hands.


	7. Epilogue

It was surprising how quiet the London street was compared to the chaos and destruction that they had just escaped from in the Ministry of Magic. The portkey had taken Andromeda, Carmen, Moody and a seriously injured James to a quaint street corner about a mile away from Trafalgar Square. Waiting for them there were Sirius, Frank, Kingsley and Quentin looking worried and solemn at the same time as the Order of the Phoenix was reunited at last.

"Where's Remus?" Andromeda asked.

"He had to leave, some sort of emergency" answered Sirius, who looked at James guiltily before looking up at the moon-lit sky. But Andromeda had bigger worries, not everyone had got out of the Ministry successfully.

"I'm so sorry, Tonks" James whispered beside her. "We thought the Lestranges were unconscious and they apparated at the last second-"

"We couldn't have predicted it" interjected Carmen, who came limping up to them with tears in her ocean-coloured eyes, "they just grabbed him and-"

"It's done"

"But-"

"It's done" she repeated. The portkey had taken her to where she wanted to go, but her sister had grabbed the almost unconscious Ted by the arm and taken him with her and her own rotten husband. She didn't know what she was going to tell Nymphadora when she got home; it would be a miracle if Ted was still alive wherever the Death Eaters had taken him.

"What do we do now?" Kingsley asked expectantly to the group, looking much less worse-for-wear that the others.

"We have to tell Dumbledore. It appears Lord Voldemort has taken over the Ministry of Magic so we're going to need all the help we can get, and Dumbledore can get that for us". Andromeda looked over towards Quentin and Carmen, who were now holding hands in a way that she had never seen them do before. _At least some people are still happy _she thought with a mixture of delight and jealousy.

"Argh!" she cried out in agony.

"What's wrong?" she heard several voices ask frantically at once; she had fallen to the concrete pavement with her hands clutched around her head. The same words were echoing in her mind over and over again in Nelly's familiar voice '_the blue eye's child is one of three' _as if it were some kind of prophecy that had been sent to her telepathically.

"Mrs White is dead" she said aloud, causing her fellow Order members to step back in shock. She had pictured a confrontation between Mrs White and You-Know-Who in the Department of Mysteries as if she herself was there and now understood why Kendra had hinted she should go there herself. "_Bellatrix Lestrange is currently with her master in the Department of Mysteries and you've already met Alastor Moody's son" _had been the auror's words when she went to see her what felt like a lifetime ago, but now she wondered if the missing child was indeed a boy.

She had no idea how old Alastor Moody was; he looked middle-aged but it was as if we could make himself look that same way for decades; so his child could be anywhere between five and twenty. Her last argument with Ted had been about Moody's story of how he'd gained his magical eye and lost his beloved family, but Andromeda had failed to yet obtain the full and true story about who the surviving child had been. She stared for a long time at Moody's electric blue eye and then at the normal golden-brown one, suddenly realising something she had been too oblivious to notice before.

Carmen has electric blue eyes

Mrs White's adoptive son has electric blue eyes

Nelly had golden-brown eyes. It seemed almost ridiculous to think that any of these people could live and breath in such close quarters to Moody without him suspecting anything, but then Andromeda remembered how mad he had become since the Death Eaters had attacked hi family. _The blue eye's child is one of three_ she thought desperately; knowing that the pieces of the puzzle were coming together much quicker than any plan to save Ted and defeat the Death Eaters was.


End file.
